Donut Design

Let’s overdose on donuts!

For a nifty party activity or perhaps rainy day snack, have your kidlets decorate plain cake donuts picked up from a local bakery or even the evil junk food aisle of the grocery store. It’s almost like decorating cupcakes but a little more challenging!

What you need:

*cake or plain donuts
*powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
*at least 1 tablespoon of water
*food color
*spoons dull knives (plastic work well)
*cake decorations like jimmies and sprinkles
*clean work surface
*cold beverage of your choice (milk, soy milk, rice milk…etc.)


scrumdilly-do it!

Toss about a cup of powdered sugar into a bowl, have your wee one add a teaspoon or so of water and mix. (I put the water into a shot glass or other small vessel for easier manipulation.)

Next drop one single drop of food color into the mixture. This takes precision an of course your kidlet can add more but one drop will add enough color for a dozen donuts!

Mix and mix and mix and mix! Add more sugar or more water until you get the consistency you like.

Now it is time for your wee one(s) to “frost” the donuts. Depending on the consistency of the frosting, they can spread it on using knives or pour it on. You can also do this with a small group of kidlets. Give each one a snack sized sealable plastic bag. Add a tablespoon of sugar and a tiny bit of water or juice, a drop of food color and seal. The children can manipulate the baggie and watch all the color mix in. Once mixed, you can snip of a small corner of the baggie and they can squirt their frosting onto their donut (or graham cracker or cookie or cupcake).

Add sprinkles and jimmies and voila’, instant donut excitement!


Wash it all down with a cold glass of milk.

Gluten-free donuts and more

Make your own Arnie!

Or make your own anthropomorphic donut*...

So...you've read Arnie a couple dozen times and your kidlets noticed all the other nifty players in the background. Why not hold a donut making party and make your own Arnie or version of him? I'm all for creating whatever you like so bear in mind this example is by no means directions to be followed EXACTLY. I made Arnie because he makes me laugh and I have to admit this one has tickled me so much that I believe he will remain a permanent fixture in my kitchen. Now onto the Arnie making:

What you need:

*styrofoam rings from your craft store, the smaller, the better

*acrylic paint in colors of your choosing

*felt for mouth and eyes or buttons and other doodads

*sequins, beads or actual cupcakes sprinkles

*white glue and perhaps a stronger glue for the felt bits

*pipe cleaners for arms and legs

*paintbrushes or sponges

scrumdilly-do it:

 

 

Have your kidlet paint the the "top" of their shape one color.


Let dry and then paint inside and outside and back of their ring another color (this is only suggestion, let them paint it however they want!) and set aside to dry. Now is the time to dialogue with your kidlets about what kind of donut she or he is going to make. Ask questions about the look and personality of their donut. Is their donut an indoor one or outdoor one. Is he or she allergic to cats? Can their donut dance? Get their creative juices flowing, write it down if you can and they can make their own book to go along with their donut.

 

Now it is time for the facial features. Add your eyes and mouth and then decorate with sprinkles and such. I used felt and real cupcake sprinkles. Unfortunately my camera decided not to share those steps so all I have for you are the pictures for the eyes...fascinating, I know!

Next, pop pipecleaners into the sides for arms and the bottom for legs. Sorry, no pictures, and you are done! You may want to poke a hole with your pipecleaner first then squirt some glue nside then pop the pipecleaner back in. Ta-da! Your very own anthropomorphic donut!


And now it is time for a non-donut-ty snack and puppet show with the new gang!

*you can also do this using salt dough. Have your wee ones create their donuts and then bake them in the oven. Once cooled your kidlets can paint and decorate and make their donuts as flashy as they please.

Either way you do it, have fun and I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see pictures of your creations! Contact me with questions, suggestions, comments and/or pictures at gmail! scrumdillydo

Happy Donut Day!

What is it with al the foodie days here in the states...yikes! In honor of Donut Day I have a few fdoguh-nutty ideas up my sleeve but for starters I will share with you a nifty fun donutty read for kidlets four and up...methinks kidlets in second and thrid grade would really enjoy this book!

Arnie the Doughnut

Written and Illustrated by: Laurie Keller

Published by: Henry Holt and Company 2003

This adorable and wickedly funny book is the story of Arnie, a freshly made doughnut, who naively believes he has been purchased to be Mr. Bing's new best friend. He only comes to the cruel realization that he is a delightful treat when he is mere inches from Mr. Bing's wide open mouth.

Arnie has a freak out and demands to use the telephone. He calls the bakery to warn the other doughnuts that they are all going to be eaten and is met with disbelief when they tell him they already know and they are actually HAPPY about it.

Arnie and Mr. Bing make an agreement. Mr. Bing will not eat him but he needs to prove useful so that Mr. Bing's money is not wasted. Both make a long list of possible uses for Arnie but soon realize that Arnie is a doughnut and only a doughnut. They bid adieu and Arnie tearfully leaves. But something makes Mr. Bing rethink his postion and he decides that perhaps, Arnie could be his friend...THE END.

The humor in this book shines through the illustrations by Ms. Keller. Little quips and sidebars add to the fun reading and kidlets can join in as they too think of ideas for what else Arnie could do. Other books by Laurie Keller can be found here.

More donutty fun:
*the history of donuts
*cool memory game*make your own clay donuts
*tiny edible donuts
*toy donut maker
*plush donuts from my paper crane
*organic vegan donuts

Wondertime

I am a collector of magazines. Have been ever since my Sassy years but now I lean towards the crafty bits and of course Parenting mags. I myself am not a parent, not yet anyway but I am an educator and I love love love watching children in their development. It is such an exciting thing to behold. Truly magical.



One thing that irks me about parenting magazines is the articles. I love a nifty party idea and of course the pages and pages of too cute clothes and toys but the articles tend to be "professionals" talking down to parents or maybe that's just me. I just get the feeling that they are a wee bit preachy. Wondertime doesn't do that. At least not in a big way. What I like about Wondertime is that is comes from a developmental point of view. I have a strong belief that people who plan on being parents should take at least one course in Child Development. It would be immensely helpful for both you and your children. Sure the magazine is produced and distributed by a huge conglomerate and it is chock full of clever ads but the articles themselves embrace the spectrum of parenting and parenting issues. It also works as a great companion for caregivers. I do not work for nor have I ever worked for any company involved in the publication of wondertime, just so ya know. I simply like this magazine and I want to recommend it to you all. Oh, and the website is pretty nifty also.



This month's issue is full of fun albeit for those of us with sunnier climates. For you Dad's out there, the current issue has oodles of articles written from your perspectives. Previous issues have included articles on the merits of technology AND nature, growing a children's garden and how to play with your kids as they grow older. Guest contributors have included Dr. T. Brazelton and Daniel Pinkwater. The presentation of the magazine is a little Martha Stweart and a little Dwell. It is pleasing to the eye with neutral colors and nifty photography. Even though is is published by Disney, you won't find any technicolor princess stories in their book recommendation pages. I guess you could say this is a fancier hardcopy form of FamilyFun.

Well, that's it for today. I hope you found this helpful and if you pick up a copy of the magzine let me know what you think through gmail...scrumdillydo. Thanks!

One last berry hurrah!

 Let's make some tarts! Making jam tarts is fun and super easy especially if you use premade pie crust. It can be homemade or store bought. Just know that the store bought stuff can be salty and full of all that extra stuff but if it is a once in a long while thing then go for it and don't worry!

What you need:
*jam
*pie crust
*cookie cutters
*spoon for jam
*plastic knives for cutting doough (a pizza wheel will work also!)
*tiny bowl of milk, soy milk or an egg
*colored sugar, sugar or powdered sugar for decorating (I used black pepper!)
*cookie sheet
*parchment paper to work and bake on

scrumdilly-do it!

 

Roll or unfold the dough so that your kidlets can go to town on it. Have your wee ones use cookie cutters to cut out their tart shapes. You can also use the knives or pizza wheel to cut out rectangular pieces that can be folded in half.

After all the shapes are cut out, space them onto the parchment paper and place onto the cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 Using the smallest spoon ya got, a baby spoon would be great, have your kidlets drop a spoonful of jam onto the center of half the cutouts.

 

 Next up, gently place a cutout on top of each jam dotted shape. Push down a wee bit onto the edges to seal. The jam will bubble up and seep out when baking which is why you want to use as little as possible. It's totally okay to use more and have it seep, no worries! You don't have to add a top to every shape either but the tops give your wee ones an opportunity to decorate!

 

Have your kidlet(s) "paint" each covered tart with a little bit of milk. This will help the sugar stick to the dough. Then let them go to town with their colored sugar and/or sprinkles. Once done, pop into the oven for 10 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.


Cool and serve with pink milk or some caffeine free tea! Yay!


Have a berry delicious day!

Collage time, berry style!

This is a great activity for anytime. You can do the leg work yourself or hand your kidlet a pair of scissors and a stack of magazines and let them go to town. I used to do this when I was 5. Yay! Allowing your kidlets to scavenger their berry pages helps with color recognition and of course building that good ol' self-esteem. Besides, maybe your kidlet doesn't want to make a strawberry, maybe they want to make a blueberry or perhaps a nanoberry. The hunt though can be a lot of fun and can also give you a few extra minutes to throw in that load of laundry, write a quick blog entry or grab your golf clubs from the garage. You can also do the scavenger hunt with letters, animals and shapes. Just make sure your kidlet is scissor ready and/or the scissors they are using are child safe. If you are able to go through and dismantle a magazine your self you can cram all the bits into a storage container or resealable bag and have your wee ones color sort into cute bowls or onto squares of colored paper. Having a couple of bags or containers on hand can be a lifesaver for when you need those extra minutes especially when you name them something spiffy like "Bea's Magic Rainbow" or "Simon's Secret Color Stash" You get my drift, and always, have fun!

What you need:

*magazines or paper scraps from mags in berry colors

*additional collage scraps in berry colors (optional)

*scissors

*glue stick

*yarn or string

*cardstock

*red or pink construction paper (optional)

*cayons, markers and/or paint (optional)

*hole punch

scrumdilly-do it!

Set out your supplies. If your kidlets are younger, have your scarps ready for them. I went throguh 2 magazines and tore out pages with red and pink colors and then cut them into strips and squares. I also did a page of green for the top of the berry.

Draw a strawberry shape onto the cardstock and cut out. Glue red construction paper to the top and trim if you want to use a colored base.

Let your wee ones go hog wild with the glue stick, covering the entire surface with adhesive. Now they can add all the scraps they want. You can also give them ribbon, tissue, beads, glitter, feathers, etc.

Once they are done, have them do another piece with the green scraps, attach the top, punch holes, thread with string and voila! A giant strawberry to hang or wear! (Because it's fun!)

It's smoothie time!

Cooking with kids is a great time to introduce them to math and science concepts! When following a recipe your wee ones will also learn sequencing and ordering and the end project is extra spiffy, don't ya think? For kidlets that aren't reading yet, you can write out "recipe cards" onto large sized index cards or regular old paper. You may want to laminate the cards for repeat usage. Using numbers, symbols and pictures will help get your wee ones started. They aren't reading exactly but they are prereading which is a good start. Keep the recipes simple and initiate a cooking day, your wee ones will surely come back for more! As their literacy skills strengthen, start switching out symbols for words. If they have prepared the recipe enough times they will have remembered the steps. Seeing and "reading" the words will boost their autonomy which builds self-esteem and they will be reading for real before you know it.

In honor of Strawberry Day I give thee a photo recipe for smoothie making with your kidlets. I however did not make a picture filled recipe card but the pictures I took are quite happy, have fun!

What you need:
*1 cup orange juice (or soy milk or other juice)
*1 banana (for thickening)
*2 spoonfuls of plain yogurt
*assorted frozen fruit like strawberries and blueberries (about 1 1/2 cups)
*frozen chopped spinach and/or carrots (optional)

You can use any combo of the above you like. If you don't want to use bananas, use more yogurt and using the frozen fruit chills your smoothie so you don't need to add ice. You can use flavored yogurt but you already have enough sugar from the juice.

sturdy plastic knives are perfect for cutting and chopping fruit like melon, bananas and apples. Kidlets won't cut themselves and the process assists with fine motor skills and problem solving.

Set out your juice in a small plastic carafe along with a 1-2 cup liquid measuring cup (I am sorry I am so poor at converting to liters). Have your kidlet measure out the juice themselves, teach them how to read the cup so that they can do this with finesse! They will be so proud! Next, have them poor the measured juice into the blender top.

Now it is time to add your fruit. Top it with a dollop or two of yogurt, place lid on blender and allow your wee one to blend away unless of course the noise freaks them out!

Now, you can pour the smoothie back into the carafe and let your kidlets pour the drink themselves or you can do it for them. This recipe should make about three small juice cup sized servings. Garnish with a paper parasol, strawberry, sprig o' something green and a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper or colored sugar and you're ready for a tastey break. Have fun and expirement!

If you do make any of the posted scrumdilly-do creations, we would love to see them in the scrumdilly-did! flickr pool! Have an idea you wanna share? Email me and you could be featured on scrumdilly-do!

Make your own berry scented play dough!

Homemade playdough is ridiculously easy to make and if you have cream of tartar on hand it will keep for up to six weeks!

What you need:

*1 cup flour

*1/2 cup salt

*2 T v. oil

*2 t cream of tartar

*1 cup water

*1 pack of powdered drink mix like kool-aid or wyler's

*medium sized stock pan

*wooden spoon

scrumdilly-do it:

Add all ingredients to your pan and mix over medium heat.

Remove from heat once mixture forms a ball in the center of the pan. If you like, add a bit o' glitter and stir. Dump your blob of dough onto a cutting board or cookie sheet to cool.

Once cool, hand it over to yer kidlets and let them play! Keep dough in a sealed container or zip bag for up to six weeks. No need to refrigerate.

If you don't have any cream of tartar, keep sealed in the refrigerator for a week. Salt dough recipe from Maryanne Kohl's nifty book titled Mudworks, I highly recommend it! It's available in Spanish also!

Have a very berry day!

In celebration of Strawberry Day and the upcoming season for those of us in sunnier climates I give you a few ideas regarding this wee bit of red sweetness!

Today's suggestion is...read a book! There aren't too many books specifically about strawberries but there a re a few about fruit. Don't forget this favorite:

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the BIG Hungry Bear
Written & Illustrated by Don & Audrey Wood
Published by Child's Play International 1984

What is Little Mouse to do? He has scored a most awesome red, ripe straberry but the BIG Hungry Bear wants it also! The Little Mouse moves the strawberry from hiding place to hiding place until he can't stand it! How does the story end?

More Books:
Strawberries are Red My Very First Book of Numbers
Eating the Alphabet
Jamberry!
The Very Hungry Catepillar
Strawberry Girl

Check back tomorrow for some strawbery playdough fun!

Pizza Fun

p-p-p-pizza party!

www.kaboodle.com

Please forgive that big ugly gap at the top. I have no idea how to fix it but thought maybe a visual of the kaboodle list would entice ya to take a looksie. There are all sorts of links to great books and other fun, games and toys! How are you gonna celebrate pizza day?

Happy Pizza Party Day!

Tomorrow is National Pizza Party Day so why not kick it off with some cooking fun! Make some wee english muffin pizzas!

What you need:
*english muffins split
*shredded cheese of your choice
*tomato paste
*olive oil
*fresh veggies
*salt, pepper & other seasonings like oregano and garlic

scrumdilly-do it:

Set out all the ingredients in a fun and nifty manner because we all know that cute sells and what better way to get yer wee ones to expirement with flavors than to prettify the veggies and such? You can prechop for yer wee ones or pick veggies that are easy to chop. Plastic knives will slice mushrooms just dandy and cherry tomatoes only need to be halved!

Drizzle a little bit of oilive oil onto each muffin half and spread, add a dollop of tomato paste and let your kidlets spread it around with a plastic knife or back of a spoon. Now it is time to go to town! Add some cheese and then heap up as many veggies as possible...add a dash o' salt and maybe some other goodness like fresh garlic (using a press may entice your wee ones to try it!) and oregano (awesome if they grew it themselves!). Or, rather than heaping it all up, have a blast making happy faces out of the ingredients:


Pop the pizzas onto a cookie sheet or some tinfoil and broil them until bubbly about eight minutes and viola! Happy Pizza Faces!


While you're all feasting on the yummy goodness have a pizza inspired storytime with one of these books:
*Hi, Pizza Man!
*Curious George and the Pizza
*The Princess and the Pizza
*Pete's a Pizza

Ready, Sit, Read Revisited

Ready, Sit, Read: backpack, originally uploaded by jek in the box.

Howdy folks! A short while back I posted about this nifty backpack full of fun that I received from Target's Ready! Sit! Read! bookclub. Ooodle of you flocked to the site to sign up but found no information on how to receive such n iftiness...never fear, the mystery may have been solved!

Gena from Monkeyporkbun signed up for a club not long after my post and then forgot to get all hopefull about the kit. Lo and behold it arrived on her doorstep earlier this month! Thank you Gena for the heads up, I hope everyone has a nifty book filled year!

Last Minute Mother's Day Craft!

 Goodness! Mother's Day is tomorrow and you forgot to help yer wee ones make a gift for mom and/or grandma! What are ya gonna do? No worries, scrumdilly-do to the rescue! Make a nifty old -school style necklace from household items! Check it out:

What you need:

*string, heavy thread or yarn (I used colored thread)

*empty cereal box or cardboard

*paint, crayons or pretty paper

*white glue and/or glue stick

*scissors

*cereal with holes like ohs or fruit loops

*uncooked noodles like rigatoni instead of cereal

scrumdilly-do it!

 

 

Cut out your pendant shape from the cardboard and cover with paper using a gluestick or paint it using your paint. Once dry, glue on your pasta or cereal, punch a hole near the top and set aside to dry. Cut thread to desired length and thread a piece of cereal or pasta onto it about three inched from the end. Tie a knot so that the piece is anchored. This keeps the other pieces from falling off. Have your we one thread to their hearts content about half way in any pattern they like. Add your pendant piece looping a knot on the top after threading. This will keep it from flipping backwards and sideways. Have your wee one continue thread until about three inches from the end, tie ends together and viola! A beautimous necklace made just for Mom!

Don't let my list limit you! You can mix it up and use pasta AND cereal AND beads if you have them. Looping the thread through each piece twice will keep it anchored in one spot creating a gap between other pieces. You can even paint the pieces once you're done!